DIIDTlOaVO 


ir    3'  TRACT  ASSOCIATION,  \  No.  3. 

Richmond,  Va.  j 


AN   ADDRESS 

TO   TUE 

SOLDIERS  OF  THE  SOUTHERN  ARIIIBS. 


BY  KEY.  J.  C.  GRANBERY, 
Chaplain  of  the  ElevenUi^irgink  Regiment. 


Fellow-Soldiers  !  Bear  with  me,  soldiers,  while  I  explain 
the  .motives,  which  prompt  thi.s  address.  It  is  natural  H;  T 
should  feel  iq  you  a  deep  interest.  If  you  were  only  ■; 
iow-meuy  bound  to  me  by  the  tie  of  our  commou  huu.i.,;.v, 
your  welfare  would  concern  me.  ICven  a  heathen  has  6i«iu, '-  i 
am  a  man;  and  nothing  human  do  I  count  alien  from  ine." 
But  I  may  cite  as  a  higher  authority  these  words  of  t\  -  ■  -n-. 
Apostle  to  the  Gentiles  :  ''  I  am  debtor  both  to  the  Gre 
to  the  Burbarlati.'?;  bogh  to  the  wise  and  the  unwi.sc.  '  We 
are  children  of  the  same  Father  who  hath  made  of  one  blood 
all  nations  of  men.  We  have  been  redeemed  by  one  blood, 
the  precious  blood  of  the  Lamb  of  God.  You  have  undying 
souls,  fallen  indeed  from  the  glory  of  that  divine  ima;;^  in 
which  man  was  created,  but  capable,  through  the  atonement 
of  Christ  and  the  sanctilication  of  the  Spirit,  of  purification 
from  all  sin  and  adornment  in  the  clear  and  lustrous  robe  of 
righteousness,  white  as  the  snow  and  brilliant  as  the  sun. — = 
Your  bodies,  too,  though  vile,  mortal  and  corruptible  now, 
have  been  included  in  the  redemption  by  Christ  Jesus,  and 
may  be  made  like  unto  his  glorious  body,  when  this  mortal 
Bhall  put  on   immortality,  and  this  coaupuble.  iueorruption. 


2  An  Address  to  the 

• 
For  all  these  reasons  I  must  cherish  towards  every  one  of  you 
the  teudiT  and  lively  solicitude  of  a  brother  :  for  the  love  of 
Christ  constraiueth  nie.  But  you  are  nearer  to  ine  than  fellow- 
meu  ;  you  are  niy /'-//oi^-ri7/2e/?.s,  compatriots  in  that  lieroio 
struggle  through  which  our  young  Republic  is  achieving  a 
honored  rank  amid  the  free  and  independent  nations  of  the 
earth.  I  cannot  believe  that  the  patriotic  fire  which  warms  my 
heart  towards  you,  as  galhint,  generous  sons  of  the  South,  is 
unworthy  of  my  office  as  a  minister  of  the  gospel.  With  all 
the  breadth  of  his  world-embracing  charity,  Paul  confessed  a 
peculiar  ardor  and  yearning  tenderness  of  affection  for  the 
Jews,  his  kinsmen  according  to  the  flesh.  For  thera  he  had 
"continual  heaviness  and  sorrow  in  his  heart."  For  them  he 
cried  out  with  mingled  patriotism  and  piety,  ''Brethren,  my 
.heart's  desire  and  prayer  to  God  for  Israel  is,  that  they  might 
be  saved."  And  shall  I  attempt  to  repress,  or  be  ashamed  to 
acknowledge,  the  profound  solicitude  and  gushing  sympathies 
of  my  inmost  'nature  for  my  brethren  of  the  Confederate 
States,  dear  to  me  by  their  characteristic  qualities — by  that 
genial  fervor  with  which  their  hearts  glow  like  the  suns  that 
warm  their  fruitful  soil,  thrice  dear  in  this  day  of  our  trial,, 
when  we  are  bound  into  unity  by  the  fellowship  of  common 
sufferings,  welded  together  by  the  rude  blows  of  calamity  and 
in  the  blaze  and  burning  heat  of  intense,  absorbing  love  for 
our  imperilled  country — a  flame  in  which  all  petty,  sordid, 
selfish  feelings  that  might  at  other  times  divide  us  are  con- 
sumed? But  you  are  more  to  me  than  fellow-citizens;  you 
are  the  very  flower  of  our  population,  our  hope  and  pride,  the 
youth  and  manhood  of  the  land,  on  whom  has  devolved  and  by 
whom  is  borne  the  grand  responsibility  of  defending  at  your 
own  peril  the  liberties,  the  rights,  the  honor,  the  homes  of 
your  countrymen,  all  of  worth  that  has  been  transmitted  to  us 
by  our  sires,  all  that  is  prized  by  freemen,  all  that  we  would 
bequeath  to  our  children  and  children's  children  to  the  latest, 
generation.  On  you  is  bent  the  eye  of  the  country,  kindling 
with  hope  and  noble  pride  as  it  watches  your  deeds  of  daring 
and  march  of  glory.  Towards  you  is  turned  the  ear  of  the 
country,  listening  with  bated  breath  to  catch  the  shouts  of 
your  triumph  and  the  trump'^t-notos  of  your  fame.  With  you 
beats  the  heart  o^  your  country,  swollen  and  throbbing  with 
ke«»Qisl  sytDpithy  for  ytTur  hardships  and  dad^re,  but  also 


n 


Soldiers  of  the  Southern  Armies,  B        5/8 

with  lofty  confidence  in  your  fortitude  and  valor  to  hurl  back 
the  coimtless  hordes  of  her  invaders  and  shed  on  the  earliest 
page  of  her  history  a  lustre  unsurpassed  in  ancient  or  in  mod- 
ern times.  What  Southron  loves  not  the  gallant  soldier  who 
strikes  for  our  altars  and  firesides?  His  name  shall  be  writ- 
ten in  immortal  story,  and  sung  in  immortal  song.  Nor  can 
I,  as  a  minister  of  (Jlirisb,  forget  that  you  maintain  against 
the  oppressor  not  only  our  civil,  but  also  our  religious  privi- 
leges;  you  uphold  Church  and  State.  Wherever  the  foe  pos- 
sesses our- soil  the  pulpit  is  silenced,  the  church  shut,  the  altar 
desecrated,  the  minister  arrested  and  loader!  wi«h  insult.— 
Shall  I  not  feel  a  special  concern  in  your  spiritual  well-being, 
because  you  have  generously  surrendered  for  the  time  the  ad- 
vantages not  gnly  of  home,  but  of  the  church  amid  whose 
institutions  you  have  been  reared,  in  order  to  secure  the  right 
of  our  people  to  worsliip  God  after  the  dictates  of  their  own 
consciences,  undisturbed  by  ihe  insolent  cnemj^  who  would 
thrust  false  doctrines  and  traitorous  prayers  into  the  throats 
of  our  preachers  and  the  ears  of  their  congregations? 

The  crowning  consideration  that  moves  me  to  this  appeal  is 
suggested  in  the'title  which  I  have  placed  at  the  head  of  this 
tract;  I  address  you  as  my  fellow-soldiers.  The  heart  of  the 
soldier  warms  towards  his  con:jpanion  in  arms,  the  partner  of 
his  privations  and  perils,  also  of  the  thrilling  joy  of  his  tri- 
umphs. I  am  a  non-combatant,  a  chaplain  preaching  the 
peace  of  God  and  the  warfare  whose  weapons  are  not  carnal, 
but  spiritual.  I  claim  no  share  in  the  gratitude  of  these 
States  and  the  admiration  of  all  nations  which  you  have  earned 
by  the  heroic  patience  with  which  you  have  borne  manifold 
hardships  and  the  heroic  courage  by  which  you  have  triumphed 
over  fearful  odds  on  many  fields,  red  with  the  precious  blood 
of  our  slain,  but  rich  in  imperishable  renown.  Nevertlieless, 
I  too  belong  to  the  army.  The  relation  which  I  sustain  to  the 
soldier  has  brought  me  into  intimate  acquaintance  with  his 
character,  and  so  attuned  my  heart  that  its  every  chord  vibrates 
in  response  to  his  joys  and  griefs.  I  have  been  with  him  in 
camp  and  on  picket,  in  Northern  Virginia  and  the  Peininsula, 
in  the  heats  of  summer,  the  sforms  of  autumn,  the  rigors  of  • 
winter.  I  have  trudged  by  his  side  on  many  a  long  and  wea- 
risome march,  in  advance  and  retreat,  through  mud  and  snow 
and  sun.     I  have  seen  him  in  the  hush  and  suspense  before 


n  ^.  /%  ffrk  n 


4  An  Address  to  the-         • 

battle,  in  the  tempest  of  shot  aud  shell,  in  the  jubilant  hour 
of  victory  and  on  the  sad  seene  of  the,  wounded  and  slain  aud 
freshly  buried.  I  have  been  with  him  as  he  was  borne  bleed- 
ing and  mutilated  from  the  field  of  strife;  I  have  sat  by  his 
side  as  he  lay  sick  and  comfortless  in  camp,  or  on  bis  lonely 
couch  in  the  hospital.  I  still  count  it  an  honor  to  follow  his 
fortunes,  and  break  to  him  the  bread  of  eternal  life.  Will 
you  not  own  me  as  a  comrade,  and  listen  to  the  message  of 
love  and  entreaty  which  I  bring  to  you  as  an  humble  ambas- 
sador of  the  Lord  Jesus  '/ 

Perhaps  there  lurks  in  your  mind  a  too  common  notion  of 
the  incouipatibility  of  a  soldier's  life  wilh  the  experience  of 
piety.  If  so,  I  wish  to  disabuse  you  of  this  error,  I  write 
not  so  much  of  the  professional  or  regular  soldier,  (though  he 
may  be  a  true  christian,)  far  less  of  the  oppressors  of  our  coun- 
try who  wage  a  war  unholy  in  its  objects  and  methods,  but  of 
the  men  who  have  left  their  pleasant  homes  to  defend  against 
the  ruthless  foe  our  precious,  God-given  heritage.  There  is 
nothing  in  this  service  inconsistent  with  the  strictest  princi- 
ples of  the  divine  word.  Abraham,  the  father  of  the  faithful 
aud  friend  of  God,  armed  his  trained  servants,  born  in  his 
house,  three  hundred  and  eighteen  in  number,  smote  the  cap- 
tors of  Lot,  and  rescued  him  and  his  propjrty.  Moses,  who 
communed  with  Jehovah  on  Sinai  and  received  the  law  from 
his  lips,  led  Israel  to  battle  and  triumph.  David,  the  man 
after  God's  own  heart,  was  a  warrior-king,  and  in  heart-stirring 
strains  upon  his  holy  harp  blessed  the  Lord  his  strength,  which 
taught  his  hands  to  war  and  his  fingers  to  fight.  Jesus  mar- 
veiled  at  the  strong  faith  i\f  a  lloman  centurion,  or. captain  of 
a  hundred  men,  and  bore  witness  :  "  Verily,  I  have  not  found 
so  great  faith,  no,,  not  in  Israel."  Honorable  mention  is  made 
in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  of  another  officer  in  the  Roman 
army — **  Cornelius,  a  centurion  of  the  band  called  the  Italian, 
a  devout  man,  and  one  that  feared  God  with  all  his  house, 
which  gave  much  aims  to  the  people,  and  prayed  to  God  al- 
way."  An  angel  appeared  to  him,  saying,  ''Thy  prayers  and 
thine  alms  are  come  up  for  a  memorial  before  God."  To  him 
first  Peter  was  sent  to  announce  the  grand  truth  that  God  is 
no  respecter  of  persons,  but  equally  ready  to  accept  aud  bless 
Jew  aud  Gentile  who  fear  him  and  work  righteousness ;.  aud 
on  him  and  those  assembled  at  his  house  the  Holy  Ghost  do- 


Soldiers  of  the  Southern  Anniee.  5 

pccndcd.  To  speak  of  modern  times,  who  has  not  read  or 
lieard  of  Ool.  Gardiner,  Capt.  Vicars  and  Gen.  Havelook,  of 
the  British  Army,  famed  equally  for  their  intrepidity  a8 
soldiers  and  their  profound  piety  ?  Our  own  Washington,  the 
patriot,  soldier,  sage,  bowed  in  holy  reverence  and  trust  before 
the  Lord  of  lords  With  devout  pleasure  I  refer  to  our  Con- 
federate army;  how  many  J^nd  how  illustrious  the  names  on 
its  rolls  that  ftre  also  written  in  the  book  of  life,  honored  of 
man  and  God  I  Gens.  Lee,  Bragg,  Jackson,  D.  H.  Hill,  and 
a  long  list  of  distinguished  officers,  count  it  their  loftiest  priv- 
ilege to  be  humble  disciy^Jesof  the  meek  and  lowly  Jesus,  and 
prove  that  experimenfal  and  practical  religion  is  not  unfavor- 
able to  the  highest  qualities  of  the  soldier,  and  may  be  retained 
amid  all  the  strife  of  war.  True  piety  sanctions  and  fosters 
every  manly,  generous,  bravo  and  lovely  sentiment.  It  has 
no  favor  for  the  cowardly,  the  sluggish,  the  sordid,  the' selfish. 
It  teaches  us  to  fear  God,  and  not  man;  to  risk  and  sacrifice 
all  for  right  and  duty.  I  have  known  many  noble  specimens 
of  the  christian  soldier.  I  shall  never  cease  to  remember  with 
admiration  one  of  the  earliest  victims  of  tins  war.  Major  Car- 
ter Harrison,  of  the  11th  Virginia.  He  was  an  earnest  ser- 
vant of  Christ,  modest,  firm,  unostentatious,  zealous.  He 
seized  at  once  the  hearts  of  the  regiment  by  his  many  virtues, 
by  his  courtesy  to  all  and  his  kind  visits  to  the  sick,  to  whom 
he  bore  a  word  not  only  of  sympathy,  but  also  of  pious  exhor- 
tation. On  the  lovely  morning  of  July  18,  1861,  as  we 
awaited  the  advance  of  the  enemy  and  the  opening  of  our  first 
battle,  our  conversation  was  on  sacred  themes.  In  a  few  hours 
he  was  mortally  wounded,  and  until  midaight  endured  untold 
agony;  but  in  his  soul  was  the  peace  of  God,  and  all  was  pa- 
tiently borne  for  the  sake  of  God  and  country.  He  was  ready 
to  be  offered  up,  and  to  leave  even  his  loved  family,  at  the  call 
of  duty.  His  flesh  rests  in  hupe ;  his  spirit  rose  to  God.  I 
recall  gratefully  an  interview  in  the  same  house  (Major  Mc- 
Clean's)  with  the  sweet-s[)irited  and  g  dlant  Captain  Lee,  of 
Bichmond.  ''  How  glad  I  am,''  said  he,  as  he  gave  me  a  cor- 
dial grasp,  *'to  shake  the  hand  of  a  brother  in  Christ  I"  I 
referred  with  sympathy  to  his  intense  sufteriag.  Witli  em- 
phasis he  answered,  "  0,  they  are  nothing  to  the  sufferings 
which  Jesus  bore  for  me  I"  In  a  few  days  he  too  was  in  the 
bosom    of  his    Father.     There   rises    before    me   a  vision   of 


6  An  Address  to  the 

the  sweet  face  of  Rev.  Dabney  Carr  Harrison,  who  reminded 
all  his  frieuds  of  the  disci plu  whom  Jesus  h)vod.  Ho  wus  of 
a  gentle,  retiring,  affectionate  disposition,  fond  of  home  and 
friends,  and  to  feed  the  flock  of  Christ.  No  one  seemed  less 
fitted  for  the  rude  scenes  of  deadly  strife;  no  one  cared  less 
for  the  pomp  and  parade  of  the  military  profession.  Yet  in 
the  hour  of  his  country's  peril,  he  girded  on  the  sword  and 
commanded  a  company  that  honored  him  as  their  captain  and 
as  a  man  of  God.  Over  their  morals  and  souls  he  w.itched 
with  a  pastor's  care,  while  he  neglected  not  to  train  them  as 
soldiers  and  inspirit  thciu  to  resist  tke  foe.  At  Fort  Donel- 
8on  he  fell,  sword  in  hand,  in  front  of  his  company,  cheering 
them  to  the  charge;  and  with  his  dying  voice  rang  out  the 
war-cry,  "  Never  surrender  !"  Neither  the  church  he  adorned 
for  year^,  nor  the  comp:iny  he  formed  at  the  start  of  hostili- 
ties, nor  the  re2;iment  of  which  he  was  Mnjor  at  the  time  of 
his  death,  will  soon  forget  John  Stewart  Walker.  His  charac- 
ter was  complete  in  christian  graces;  his  life  was  fruitful  in 
good  works;  the  influence  of  his  example  and  exhortation  sur- 
vives in  the  city  of  Kichmond  and  with  the  soldiers  he  com- 
mauded.  Warned  of  the  peril  to  which  he  exposed  himself, 
but  persuaded  that  duty  called,  he  advanced  for  observation  in 
front  of  his  regiment,  and  fell  in  death  during  the  memorable, 
struggle  of  Malvern  Hill.  I  must  not  forget  an  uld  friend 
and  college-mate,  of  refined  character  and  cultivated  mind,  a 
private  in  the  ranks,  John  Moody,  who  died  of  a  wound  re- 
ceived in  the  same  engagement.  His  brother,  with  a  pained 
heart,  told  him  that  his  leg  must  be  amputated.  A  sweet  and 
placid  smile  was  on  his  face  as  he  replied,  "  Well,  I.  entered 
the  army  from  a  sense  of  duty,  and  do  not  object  to  the  loss 
of  a  limb  in  the  service  of  my  country  "  A  few  days  later 
his  brother  informed  him  that  he.  must  die.  With  the  same 
seraphic  calm  of  countenance  and  cheerful  tones  of  voice,  he 
said,  "  It  is  well.  I  am  a  soldier  from  the  conviction  of  duty, 
and  willing  to  offer  my  life  a  sacrifice  to  the  cause  of  my  coun- 
try and  my  God.*'  I  will  close  this  list  of  some  of  the  wor- 
thy dead  of  our  army  whom  I  myself  knew,  with  the  name  of 
that  lamented  young  officer.  Gen.  Garland,  who  stood  so  high 
in  the  esteem  of  our  chief  Generals,  and  bade  fair  to  attain 
the  loftiest  distinction.  He  was  my  class-mate  at  college,  af- 
terwards my  colonel.     I  was  not  with  him  in  his  last  days,  but 


Soldiers  of  the  Southern  Armien,  7 

I  remember  well  bis  babits  of  prayer  and  of  tbe  reverent  read- 
ing of  tbe  scriptures  in  camp,  tbe  modest  suizgestion  of  his 
readiness  to  co-operate  with  me  in  every  effort  to  promote 
the  spiritual  interests  of  his  regiment,  and  the  deep  pity  he 
cxpre>ssed  for  the  soldier  who  encountered  the  perils  of  a  cam- 
paign without  hope  of  a  blessed  immortality,  lie  did  his  duty 
for  conscience  sake,  in  the  fear  of  God.  Fellow-soldier,  would 
you  not  be  glad  to  emulate  the  piety  of  these  men,  and  to  die 
their  death  ? 

Will  you  attend  now,  while  I  urge  some  valid  reasons  why 
tbe  soldier,  above  other  me?i,  ought  to  be  a  christian? 

1.  In  order  to  secure  the  bkssing  of  Alm'ujhtij  God  on  our 
arms. 

I  assume  your  faith  in  the  great  truth  that  '^  God  is,  and  is 
a  rewarder  of  them  that  diligently  seek  him  "  We  have  sol- 
emnly recognized  God  in  tbe  Constitution  of  these  (^nfeder- 
ate  States.  The  acts  of  our  Congress  and  the  prnclamutions 
of  our  President  have  acknowledged  him.  With  wonderful 
unanimity,  with  profound  emotion,  our  people  have  observed 
days  of  fasting  to  avert  his  righteous  wrath,  days  of  thanks- 
giving to  glorify  his  name  for  timely  succor  a,nd  glorious  vic- 
tories. Not  as  a  mere  form,  not  with  words  of  studied  and 
frigid  grace  to  round  a  period,  but  in  evident  sincerity  and 
fervor,  our  Generals  have  expressed  their  trust  in  diyine  guid- 
ance, and  attributed  their  brilliant  successes  to  his  favor.  "  Our 
gratitude  to  God  for  bis  mercies  rises  higher  every  day,"  wrote 
Lee  after  the  second  battle  of  Manassas.  In  his  more- recent 
disj^atch  which  briefly  announced  the  repulse  of  Burnside  at 
Fredericksburg,  "Thanks  be  to  God  1"  bursts  forth  from  the 
fullness  of  a  grateful  heart.  Deep  in  the  breasts  of  our  sol- 
diery and  civilians  rests  the  conviction  that  the  Lord  of  hosts, 
the  God  of  battles,  the  Ruler  of  the  nations,  is  on  our  side, 
and  that  in  this  fact  lies  our  safety  against  all  the  craft  and  all 
the  power  of  tbe  Northern  army.  "  Except  the  Lord"  build 
the  house,  they  labor  in  vain  that  build  it :  except  the  Lord 
keep  the  city,  the  watchman  wakcth  but  in  vain."  "  Lift  not 
up  your  horn  on  high  :  speak  not  witii  a  stiff  neck.  For  pro- 
motion cometh  neither  from  the  East,  nor  from  the  West,  nor 
from  the  South.  But  God  is  the  judge  :  he  putt-eth  down  one, 
and  setteth  up  another."  We  can  appeal  with  candor  and  con- 
fidence to.  God  iu  behalf  of  our  cause,  because  it  is  worthy. — 


8  All  Address  to  the 

Oppression,  robbery,  bloodshed,  we  do  not  desire,  but  depre- 
cate. We  would  iujure  no  man.  We  fight  for  libcrt}^  inde- 
pendence, salicty,  honor — for  these  broad  and  fruitful  lands, 
for  institutions  that  have  conse  down  to  us  from  our  fatheis, 
for  our  homes  and  children  and  God's  own  truth.  We  are  for 
peace ;  but  they  are  for  war.  The  righteousness  of  this  self- 
defence  on  our  part,  however,  is  not  sufficient  by  itself  to  se- 
cure for  us  divine  help  from  trouble.  God  may  have  a  con- 
troversy with  us.  He  may  use  that  mad  people  as  the  rod  of 
his  anger  to  chastise  us  long  and  sorely,  ''  The  Lord  is  with 
you,  while  ye  be  wi^h  him;  and  if  ye  seek  him,  he  w'll  be 
found  of  you;  but  if  ye  forsake  him,  he  will  forsake  yQU." 
What  avail  will  be  all  our  fiistings  and  thanksgivings,  if  they 
are  unaccompanied  by  repentance  and  turning  to  the  Lord'/ 
In  several  of  his  orders  Washington  reproved  his  army  for 
their  profanity  and  other  sins,  and  asked  how  they  could  ex- 
pect God  to  crown  their  arms  with  success,  while  they  daily 
blasphemed  his  name.  Look  at  the  crimes  and  impiety  of  our 
army,  and  ask  yourself  the  question  whether  we  do  not  de- 
serve the  heavy  judgments  of  Heaven.  If  we  were  a  God- 
fearing army;  if  officers  and  privates  worshipped  and  obeyed 
him;  if  with  earnest  and  persevering  cries  we  besought  him, 
the  God  of  justice,  the  God  of  mercy,  to  guide  us  to  wise 
counsels,  to  inspire  us  with  steadiness  and  valor,  to  break  the 
ranks  of  the  foe,  and  beat  them  to  pieces  small  as  the  dust 
before  the  wind  ;  if  after  every  success  our  joy  arose  in  songs 
and  shouts  to  God  who  had  triumphed  gloriously — would  we 
not  be,  indeed,  an  irresistible  power?  Let  us  henceforth  lift 
up  our  banners  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  and  do  valiantly. — 
How  soon  then  may  God  crush  the  numerous  hosts  of  the  en- 
emy, or  turn  his  heart  to  peace,  or  raise  us  up  friends  among 
other  nations. 

2.  Because  the  life  and  poiver  of  godlhiefis  are  needed  to 
preserve  j/oufrom  the  immoraliti/  and  utter  irrtUyion  to  which 
temptatioiu  abound  in  the  camps. 

Much  has  been  said  artd  writ-ten  about  the  demoralizing  in- 
fluence of  the  war  on  our  people,  and  especially  on  our  army. 
Soldiers  and  their  friends  have  sometimes  been  offended  by  the 
sweeping  charges  of  looseness  in  morols  which  have  been 
brought  against  our  troops.  They  have  protested  against  them 
as  unkind  and  unjust.     T  do  not  wonder  that  they  have  felt 


Soldier 8  of  the  South trn  Annies.  9 

keenly  this  reproach.  Our  array  does  not  consist  of  hirelings, 
of  the  scum  of  society.  In  it  are  largely  represented  all  re- 
spectable clas<es  of  the  coniuiunity,  and  also  the  church  of 
God.  Never  b^'fore  was  there  so  mueh  of  intellectual,  social, 
moral  worth  in  an'y  body  of  troops.  The  accusation  cannot  be 
sustained  against  these  men  that  they  have  thrown  off  the  re- 
straints of  conscience,  religion,  decency,  honor.  If  it  were 
true,  we  should  bid  farewell  to  our  hopes  of  prosperity  and 
renown  for  this  Confederacy ;  for  society  would  be  rotten  to 
its  very  core.  But  setting  aside  these  extravagant  statements, 
we  must  still  confess,  with  shame  and  sorrow  and  trembling, 
the  injurious  influence  of  their  mode  of  life  on  our  soldiery. 
Who  has  not  seen — who  will  not  own  it  ?  They  have  given 
up  the  care  of  their  pastors,  the  fellowship  of  their  christian 
brethren,  the  stated  services  of  the  sanctuary,  the  hallowed 
influences  of  home  and  of  female  society.  They  are  not  sub- 
ject, as  formerly,  to  the  control  of  public  sentiment;  they^re 
not  occupied  in  the  steady  pursuits  of  industry.  It  is  not 
strange  that  they  should  cast  off"  the  fear  of  God,  and  seek 
pleasure  in  vices  which  once  they  abhorred.  Even  the  stand- 
ard of  truth  and  honesty  has  been  fearfully  lowered  by  many 
who  had  been  good  citizens,  or  ar^  the  'children  of  our  most 
honorable  men.  Gambling,  licentiousness  and  drinking  are 
very  seductive  in  camp.  Profane  and  lewd  conversation 
abounds.  Often  military  duties  employ  the  whole  Sabbath, 
and  in  many  regiments  there  is  no  chaplain  to  conduct  public 
worship  and  preach  the  word  of  eternal  life.  Therefore  ini- 
quity abounds,  and  the  love  of  many  waxes  cold.  There  is  a 
great  falling  off  from  piet}'  and  good  morals.  IMen  forget 
their  Creator,  and  lose  the  sense  of  religion.  Comrade,  have 
you  not  felt  this  tendency  to  ungodliness — perhaps,  also,  to 
vice  ?  You,  perhaps,  are  the  child  of  many  prayers.  You 
early  knelt  at  a  mother's  knees,  and  learned  from  her  lips  to 
lisp  a  prayer.  You  have  been  trained  amid  religious  influen- 
ces. Once  you  had  a  tender  conscience  and  keen  susceptibil- 
ity to  the  appeals  of  the  I^ible;  Has  not  that  conscience  been 
blinded  and  blunted?  Has  not  that  heart  hardened?  Are 
you  not  far  gone  from  God  ?  This  is  with  you  a  precious  sea- 
son of  life.  You  are  still  young.  Your  nature  is  plastic  and 
is  taking  shape;  soon  it  wiU  be  rock.  You  may  be  a  ruined 
man  in  character,  in  morals,  in  soul,  before  the  close  of  the 


10  Ari  Address  to  the 

war.  Your  safeguanl  is  in  tlic  cxperionec  and  practice  of  re- 
ligion. Though  many  christians  have  made  shipwreck  of  faith 
and  a  good  conscience  in  the  army,  others  have  stood  fast,  and 
will  come  forth  out  of  the  furnace  purified  like  gold.  Kin<< 
Saul  and  Judas  fell  away,  and  were  never  recovered  ;  David 
and  Peter  were  overcome  by  temptation,  but  repented  and 
were  restored;  Joseph' in  Totiphar's  house,  Daniel  and  the 
three  Hebrew  children  at  the  court  of  Nebuchadnezzar,  re- 
tained their  fidelity  against  seductions  and  violence.  The  be- 
liever in  Christ  is  changed  and  purified  in  his  very  soul;  he 
i«  strengthened  by  the  Holy  Spirit ;  he  is  inspired  by  the  lof- 
tiest motives  and.  hopes.  You  may  not  enjoy  many  religious 
privileges;  but  God  is  a  Spirit,  and  asks  a  worship  in  spirit 
and  truth.  No  external  circumstances  can  keep  you  from  seek- 
ing God  in  humble,  contrite,  believing  prayer.  Carry  your 
testament  in  your  pocket,  and  consult  its  pages  daily.  Kven 
iu  camp,  on  the  march,  in  the  array  of  battle,  you  may  be  a 
true  disciple  of  Christ,  and  grow  in  grace  and  knowledge. 

3.  Because  amid  the  priuatiojis  and  sirff'erinr/s  of  the  sol- 
dier there  is  peculiar'  need  of  (he  rich  consolations  of  reVufion. 

You  know  the  hardships  of  the  soldier.  Your  food  is  coarse 
and  often  scanty;  it  is  almost  im|)ossible  to  keep  a  sufficient 
supply  of  clothes  and  blankets ;  you  suffer  from  exposure  to 
all  kinds  of  weather;  your  duties  are  dull  and  wearisome  ;  you 
mi.ss  the  comforts  of  home,  and  are  heartsick  with  longing  to 
see  again  the  loved  ones  from  whom  you  have  been  so  long 
absent.  These  evils  you  can  bear  in  health  and  vigor,  but 
how  your  spirits  sink  when  they  are  aggravated  by  sickness, 
whether  in  camp  or  in  hospital.  Then  you  have  strength 
neither  of  body  nor  mind  to  resist  gloom  and  melancholy; 
you  pine  for  the  sweet  tones  and  gentle  ministries  of  wife, 
mother,  sister — for  all  the  inexpressible  blessedness  of  home. 
Comrade,  you  may  have  an.ever  present  friend  in  God.  He 
■will  be  to  you  a  father,  and  you  shall  be  his  son.  Jesus  will 
be  to  you  a  brother,  and  nearer  than  a  brother.  The  consola- 
tions of  grace  are  independentof  external  situation;  rather 
they  abound  as  sufferings  abnurul.  Penitent  for  sin,  but  trust- 
ing iu  the  cross,  you  will  have  peace  with  God  tliroagh  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Careful  for  nothing  with  tormenting  fear, 
but  making  your  requests  known  unto  God' in  prayer,  you  will 
liave  the  peace  of  God  which  passeth  all  understanding  to  keep 


Soldiers  of  tJie  Southern  Armies,  11 

your  heart,  and  mind  through  Christ  Jesus.  The  hope  of 
heaven  will  be  to  your  spirit  an  anchor  sure  and  steadfai^t.  A 
well-sprinfT  of  holy  joy  will  open  in  your  heart,  and  its  living 
waters  will  gush  forth  freely  forever.  Your  meditation  of  God 
will  be  sweet.  He  will  be  with  you  as  you  walk  your  solitary 
beat  on  guard  and' picket.  He  will  watch  by  your  si<le  as  you 
lie  on  your  lowly  bed.  He  will  be  with  you  in  trouble,  and 
n^ake  all  your  bed  in  sickness.  Though  every  other  friend  be 
absent,  and  every  other  help  fail,  God  will  be  the  strength  of 
your  heart  and  your  portion  forever. 

4.  Because  you  are  exposed  to  imminent  peril  of  sudden 
death. 

Life  with  us  all  is  short  and  uncertain.  The  very  means 
men  take  to  guard  against  death  may  prove  fatal.  A  few  days 
ago  from  the  time  I  am  writing,  a  soldier  was  returning  to 
camp  with  a  substitute,  and  by  the  running  off  of  the  cars  was 
hurled  instantly  into  eternity.  *' In  the  midst  of  life  we  are 
in  death."  But  the  soldier  has  peculiar  perils  both  by  disease 
and  battle.  How  often  is  -he  hurried  to  the  grave  without 
warning,  either  by  fierce  disease  or  by  the  shot  of  the  foe.  la 
the  most  literal  sense,  there  is  frequently  but  a  step  betwixt 
him  and  death;  he  feels  as  ho  advances  to  the  front  of  the 
battle  that  the  next  step  may  take  hiui  to  death.  *'  And  after 
death  the  judgment."  ''The  sting  of  death  is  sin."  Friend, 
are- you  prepared  to  die  and  appear  before  God?  You  are  a 
brave  man,  I  acknowledge;  you  will  stand  to  your  post  at  all 
hazards;  but  do  you  not  tremble  and  shrink  at  the  sober 
thought  that  death  is  near  ?  Are  you  willing  to  rush  into  eter- 
nity with  your  miuiy  crimson  sins — with  the  grievous  sin  of 
forgetting  your  Creator  and  neglecting  the  great  salvation,  un- 
confessed,  unrepented,  uuforgiven  ?  Are  you  in  a  right  state 
of  heart  for  death  and  the  bar  of  Christ?  You  may  die  with- 
out sufficient  notice  even  to- utter  the  dying  cry,  ''  God  be  mer- 
ciful to  me  a  sinner  !"  ^'0  chaplain,  pray  for  me!"  cried  a 
soldier,  as  he  was  borne  mortally  wounded  from  the  battle  of 
"Williamsburg.  I  could  only  assure  him  that  I  was  praying 
for  him,  and  .with  a  word  direct  him  to  the  Lamb  of  God 
which  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world.  I  have  talked  to 
many  soldiers  in  extreme  illness  who  turned  on  me  a  vacant 
stare,  their  minds  being  distracted  by  fever,  orwrithed  in  such 
agony  of  body  that  they  c^)lild  oot  cocopo&e  tbeiBeel-nKJ  to  Us- 


12  An  Address,  tf-c. 

tcu  or  to  prn}-.  Seek  the  Lord  while  he  may  bo  found ;  call 
upon  him  while  he  is  near.  Behold,  now  is  the  accepted  time; 
behold,  now  is  the  day  of  salvation.  The  love  of  God  Bhed 
abroad  in  the  heart  dispels  all  fear;  it  delivers  those  who  had 
all  their  lifetime  been  subject  to  bondage  through  fear  of  death. 
With  the  witness  of  acceptance  by  God  through  Christ  in  your 
heart,  you  will  meet  death,  swift  or  lingering;,  by  bullet  or  dis- 
ease, at  home  or  abroad,  without  dread  or  shuddering.  The 
great  Shepherd  will  go  with  you  through  the  valley.  You  will 
sweetly  fall  asleep  in  Jesus.  It  will  matter  little  where  your 
body  shall  be  buried.  Dives  had  his  funeral  honors  of  men  ; 
but  the  beggar  Lazarus  was  borne  by  angels  to  Abraham's 
bosom. 

Comrade,  I  wish  to  enlist  you  as  my  fellow-soldier  in  a  no- 
bler cause  than  even  that  of  Southern  independence.  *'  Fight 
the  good  fight  of  faith."  There  is  no  leader  comparable  to 
the  Captain  of  our  salvation.  There  is  no  triumph  so  sure  as 
the  triumph  of  Jesus  over  all  his  foes.  There  are  no  rewards 
so  rich  as  those  he  gives  his  failhful  soldiers.  To-day  join 
this  army,  and  never  desert  your  colors.  Though  you  die,  you 
will  live  forever.  Over  your  grave  comrades  will  sing,  sor- 
rowing, yet  not  as  others  who  have  no  hope : 
"The  pains  of  death  are  past, 

Labor  and' sorrow  cease  ; 
And  life's  long  warfare  closed  at  last, 

His  soul  is  found  in  peace. 
Soldier  of  Christ  well  done  I 

l'rai.se  be  thy  new  employ  ; 
And  while  etei-nal  ages  run,  » 

Rest  in  thy  Saviour's  joy." 


.x^) 


Scldiers'  I'ra-H^  Aego^iaHcc;-,,  M.  E  Church,  South. 


^^  .' 


HoUinga:  Corp. 
pH8.5 


